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Compact Archives

By Syed Balkhi

Site Administration & Utilities / URL Redirects & 301 Management

Reviewed by Omar Dabbas

Trusted WordPress expert with 20+ years of experience evaluating plugins for the WP ecosystem.

Compact Archives Review - In-Depth Analysis

Displays a smart monthly archive of posts in a compact form. Ideal for established blogs.

Performance Overview

WPS Score

6.73/10

User Rating

5/5 (based on 9+ reviews)

Active Installations

2,000+

Update Frequency

Below Average It is calculated using the weighted average of same category plugins.

Security Score

5 / 10 (Medium Risk) It is calculated using the weighted average of all versions.

What It Does

The built-in WordPress archives widget is great for new blogs, but it does not look as good for more established blogs. Compact Archives displays the monthly archive of posts in a more compact form rather than the usual long list.

This plugin can show the archive as a compact block suitable for the body of an archives page or in an even more compact form to fit a sidebar. It also offers a middle ground option.

Compact Archive plugin works seamlessly with Gutenberg Block Editor, Classic Editor, and WordPress widgets. It is designed to enhance the appearance and functionality of your blog's archives.

Comparing to Alternatives

Compact Archives stands out in the archive plugin category with no direct feature-for-feature match among its peers, offering a unique compact display style.

Top alternatives

Strengths

Simple and effective archive display
Highly customizable with minor code tweaks
Supports localization with manual adjustments
Lightweight and quick to load
Consistently positive user feedback

Weaknesses

Requires manual edits for advanced localization
Hardcoded elements like the year in titles need fixing
No official pro version with extended features
Has a known security vulnerability fixed only in latest update

User Sentiment Analysis

With a perfect 5-star rating from all reviewers, users appreciate the plugin's simplicity and effectiveness, though minor issues have been noted.

Positive highlights

'Very good plugin – a small tweak for localization' (Deceneus)
'Very cool plugin. Thank you' (marcodimitri1)
'Quick and simple plugin' (digitaleyecandy)
'Love this Archive Plugin' (Clarence Johnson)
'The best archive plugin' (face0ff)

Common complaints

Weaknesses

Title attribute is hardcoded to 2001, limiting dynamic updates
Localization requires manual code changes
Security vulnerability fixed only in version 4.1.1

Who Should Use This?

Best for

Users seeking a lightweight, straightforward archive plugin that can be customized with minor code edits and who value simplicity over extensive features.

Not ideal for

Those who require out-of-the-box advanced localization, dynamic title handling, or need a plugin with no known past security issues might find this plugin less suitable.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version offers a compact archive display with basic customization options and localization support through manual edits.

Final Verdict

Compact Archives is a highly rated plugin praised for its simplicity, effectiveness, and ease of customization, making it a solid choice for users needing a compact archive display. Its free availability and positive user feedback add to its appeal.

However, users should be aware of a past security vulnerability that has been addressed in the latest update and the need for manual code adjustments for localization and dynamic title fixes. Alternatives exist but may not offer the same compact style or simplicity.

Other Notable Features

Here are a few other notable features of this free Compact Archives plugin.

Screenshots

FAQ

The template tag, compact_archive, has some parameters:

    compact_archive($style='initial', $before='<li>', $after='</li>');

If $style == ‘initial’ (the default) the display will fit into a sidebar:

    2009: J F M A M J J A S O N D     2008: J F M A M J J A S O N D     2007: J F M A M J J A S O N D

If $style == ‘block’ the display will be wide enough to fill the main column of a page:

    2009: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec     2008: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec     2007: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

If $style == ‘numeric’ the display will use month numbers:

    2009: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12     2008: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12     2007: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12

$before and $after wrap each line of output. The default values make
each line of the archive into a list item:

    <ul>         <?php compact_archive(); ?>     </ul>

The shortcode [compact_archive] works just like the template tag. It accepts the following parameters:

style – Display format: initial (default), block, or numeric
before – Wrapper tag: li (default), p, div, or span. Can be written with or without angle brackets.
classname – Custom CSS class(es) to add to the container

Examples:

[compact_archive style="block"] - Display archives in block format.  [compact_archive style="numeric" before="p"] - Display in numeric form, wrapped in paragraph tags.  [compact_archive before="div" classname="my-archive custom-class"] - Wrap each line in a div with custom CSS classes.

The year links at the start of each line are wrapped in tags while months with no posts are wrapped with so you can differentiate them visually using your style sheet.

You can also use the classname attribute in the shortcode to add custom CSS classes:

[compact_archive classname="my-custom-archive"]

Contributors and developers

“Compact Archives” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.

Syed Balkhi

Noumaan Yaqoob

Andrei Surdu

Free Version

WPS

6.73

Average

Ratings

5 out of 5 | 9

Version

4.1.1

Last updated

8 months ago

Active installations

2,000+

WordPress version

6.9.10 or higher

PHP version

5.6 or higher

Languages

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Compact Archives Review - In-Depth Analysis

Performance Overview

What It Does

Comparing to Alternatives

User Sentiment Analysis

Who Should Use This?

Pricing & Value

Final Verdict

Other Notable Features

Screenshots

FAQ

Contributors and developers

Ratings

Reviews (9)

Sort by:

Contributors & Developers

Interested in development?

Changelog

Security Status

Secure

No Unpatched Vulnerabilities

Known Vulnerabilities (1)

Previous Versions

WPS

6.73

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